A weekend with BIG card updates

Time to read:

💡 To get the ENTIRE break down of our top cards update with all the details and even some examples of these cards’ value… hop over to Thursday’s newsletter. And psst… if you’re a United fan, you’ll definitely want to see which card is offering 100,000 United miles right now.

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Welcome back to the weekend! And welcome to February—the hardest month to spell.

Thankfully, it is not yet early Monday morning, and we’re not in this situation 👇

Rather, I hope you’re fully rested, enjoying your weekend so far, and are ready for all the travel hacking happenings from this past week.

Let’s get to it!

✅ Catch up on our latest YouTube video about STOPOVERS. I’m sure you’ve heard of a layover, but a stopover is completely different—make a mini vacay out of it

✅ Bless your ears with this week’s podcast that covers SIX award search tools you’ll want to know about

✅ Check out our top cards page to see which cards have moved up the list for February

✅ Delta enthusiasts! Our top three cards for the airline also saw MAJOR welcome offer upgrades

🥇 Favorite pick of the week: MAJOR card updates

Holy smokes, it was a busy week for travel credit cards 😯

Mike and I (and the whole DD team) had a little pow wow early on to break down all the details and figure out what the HECK we were gonna do with all this tasty info.

It was truly a battle of the cards to figure out if the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card should be dethroned, and if so… by whom 👀

Needless to say, it happened—by this underrated hotel card—whose welcome offer saw a pretty little boost of points and what could also turn into TWO Free Night Awards on top of said points.

So. Lucrative.

So yeah, it’s no surprise that we love Hyatt around here, and its hotel loyalty program has continued to gain popularity over the last year or so.

Another notable mention was this competing hotel card (that snagged the #2 spot), and whose new welcome offer includes FIVE Free Night Awards…

Kevin Hart with text overlay of "Say whaaat"

Just incredible.

We also love Marriott here at DD, so five free nights could bring a 💩 ton of value to your travel plans.

💡 To get the ENTIRE break down of our top cards update with all the details and even some examples of these cards’ value… hop over to Thursday’s newsletter. And psst… if you’re a United fan, you’ll definitely want to see which card is offering 100,000 United miles right now.

🏃🏻‍♀️ Runner-Ups

All about those FREE NIGHT AWARDS

A picture of a hotel room with a beach background

Well dang, speaking of more Free Night Awards…

If you aren’t aware, Free Night Awards (FNAs) are certificates that allow you to book free nights with various hotel chains. There are many types of FNAs, sometimes within the same hotel program.

For example, Marriott has FNAs that vary from being worth 35,000 points all the way up to 85,000 or 100,000 points. The value of the certificate depends on how you earned it.

Hyatt’s awards, on the other hand, are based on which Category (numbered 1-8) the hotel belongs to.

And being the mindreader that I am, you’re now probably wondering, “Well, how do I get a grip on some of these FNAs for myself??”

Fear not, as I have the answer.

I agree with Mike in that there are three main ways to earn FNAs.

1. Credit cards

FNAs could be part of a welcome offer (see above in our top cards update), a perk to renewing your card, or meeting a spending requirement.

2. Milestone Rewards

Some hotel brands will offer you various rewards for reaching different milestones with them throughout the year—could be points, could be an FNA, or could always be something else.

3. Promotions

These can often come and go, but that’s why you read Daily Drop! We’ll alert you when we see these promos come through 😎

If you want to see the detailed version on all things FNAs, check out Tuesday’s newsletter. You’ll even learn which hotel brand we think offers the best FNAs 👀

Hyatt and Etihad launch new joint promo

These two lovebirds have become Facebook official, and we’re here for it.

We freaking love Hyatt, and Etihad is one of the best airlines in the sky, so the thought of them entering a partnership is just… so exciting 😍

Here’s the deal:

Earn 1,000 Etihad miles for every stay at Hyatt between February 1 and March 30, 2024
You must register for the offer between January 29 and February 29
You will still earn Hyatt points on top of Etihad miles
The miles will be credited to your Etihad account in 6-8 weeks

Under normal circumstances, there aren’t a ton of ways to earn and redeem Etihad miles, but you can transfer points to Etihad from a handful of credit cards if ever needed, or to boost your Etihad pot if you do rack up some miles from this promo.

And for those of you who prefer to travel around good ol' America, would you believe me if I told you that you can use Etihad miles to fly on domestic routes in the U.S.??

Absolutely baller.

Read our full take on this partnership here.